The Gazette 1971

BOOK REVIEWS

Williams and Mortimer on Executors, Administrators and Probate (being the fifteenth edition of Williams on Executors and the third edition of Mortimer on Pro- bate) by J. H. G. Sunnucks; special editor (Probate) R. L. Bayne-Powell; (Property and Conveyancing Lib- rary No. 10 (London, Stevens & Sons; clxxxviii, 1172 pp. (including index); cloth £18.50. Irish practitioners must gaze with envy, at times, at the way their English counterparts are served with modern textbooks and sources of information, constantly revised and kept up to date. In the field of administration of estates, apart from Halsburys "Laws" and Halsburys "Statutes", they can rely on standard works of such high reputation as Jarman on Wills and Theobald on Wills. Now, in addition, they are presented with this hand- somely produced volume, No. 10, in this much esteemed Property and Conveyancing Library. Following the ad- vice of Megarry J. (as he now is) in an earlier review of Williams on Executors, the editors have set themselves the task that their work should be the leading practi- tioner's book on executors and administrators "full, accurate and within its proper sphere exhaustive" (78 L.Q.R. 114, 118). The authors are to be congratulated on achieving this task. One of the great merits of this work is the successful incorporation by Mr. Registrar Bayne-Powell of Mor- timer on Probate, the last edition of which was in 1929. This resulted from the start of the work on the fifteenth edition of Williams on Executors coinciding with a reappraisal of the possibility of re-editng Mortimer on Probate. It was wisely decided that a special editor should be appointed to re-edit Mortimer in a form which could be incorporated in Williams. In Maine's opinion "few legal agencies are, in fact, the fruit of more complex historical agencies than that by which a man's written intentions control the posth- umous dispositions of his goods" ( Ancient Law, tenth edition, p. 174). Maine's opinion is still relevant. Writing a hundred years and more later, it takes the editors over a 1,000 pages and ninety-seven chapters to put this subject in its context. Such a treatment is admittedly "full, accurate and . .. exhaustive", yet one is left with the impression that the subject itself still remains far too complex. Much remains to be done in simplyfying the system whereby the law administers the deceased's estate. The text is divided into ten parts set approximately in a logical time sequence. The first part of the bcx deals with matters of definition and appointment, con tinuing with probate jurisdiction (four parts), questions of family provision and administration (three parts), and concluding with distribution and liability (two parts). There is also a helpful appendix containing the most important statutory provisions together with a table of distribution on intestacy. Inevitably, there are portions of the text which do not represent the present Irish law on executors and administrators. This, however, does not detract from the fact that this new edition is an invaluable addition to the library of all those interested in this intricate and important branch of the law. J. O'Reilly

A Practical Guide to Appeals in Criminal Courts by- Peter Morrish and Ian McLean; 8vo; London, Sweet and Maxwell, 1971; pp. 153; £2.25. This is essentially a practitioner's book and, despite the more progressive criminal legislation now in force in England, it will be of considerable help to the Irish lawyer. It covers the whole range of criminal appeals from the magistrates' courts to the House of Lords, including appeals from statutory tribunals and local government bodies. There is a particularly clear chapter on the prerogative orders of habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari, and prohibition with numerous footnotes on recent cases. References to legal aid and the juvenile courts sug- gested to this reviewer two areas where the Irish criminal system needs immediate improvement: (1) Appeals from children's courts here should lie to a special juvenile appeal court and not as at present to the Circuit Court where, in criminal appeals, no dis- tinction is made in the lists between adult and juvenile cases. (2) Despite the cost, legal aid should be extended to all criminal cases where the defendant is of poor means and such people should be informed of their rights to legal aid. GJS. Tolstoy on Divorce and Matrimonial Causes including Proceedings in the Magistrates Courts by D. Tolstoy, Q.C., and C. Kenworthy, a registrar of the Probate and Divorce jurisdiction; London, Sweet and Maxwell, 1971 ; pp. lxvii-f 627 (including index); £3.90. In England and Wales, the law of divorce and family law in general has changed radically in the course of the last four years. This period of transformation has yet to be completed as the law commissioners have yet to finish their task in the field of family law. The most important topic remaining is that of family property. The last edition of "Tolstoy" was in 1967. The recent changes above referred to, notably the Divorce Reform Act, 1969, and the Matrimonial Proceedings and Prop- erty Act, 1970, have necessitated a seventh edition. While Latey on Divorce and Rayden on Divorce will remain as the specialist practitioners' books of reference, Tolstoy, since its first edition in 1946, has always re- tained its own particular position. Written for the law student preparing for his finals and "the practitioner requiring concise information on matrimonial matters", it states in a lucid and intelligent form the present law J divorce and matrimonial causes as administered in England and Wales. In this respect, Northern Ireland and Scotland are not included as they are not within the jurisdiction of the English Courts. The law of div- orce and matrimonial causes as administered there is considerably different from its English counterpart. The importance family law has attained in England is evid- enced by Section 1 of the Administration of Justice Act, 1970, which will transfer jurisdiction in matri- monial and related causes from the probate, divorce and admiralty division to a new division of the high court, the family division. This section will come into effect on a day to be appointed.

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